Pembroke ( ) is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, located at the confluence of the Muskrat River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley. It lies approximately 145 kilometres (90 mi) northwest of Ottawa. It serves as the county seat of Renfrew County and functions as a regional administrative, judicial, healthcare, and commercial centre for surrounding communities, independent of the county government.
Historically, Pembroke developed as an important centre of the Ottawa Valley lumber trade, a role that shaped its early growth and institutional development. As of the 2021 Census, the city had a population of 14,364.
History
Etymology The city takes its name from the George Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke, a title associated with his son, Sidney Herbert, a prominent 19th-century British statesman who served as Secretary of State for War and briefly as Secretary of State for the Colonies. While the town was not named directly after Sidney Herbert, the name Pembroke reflects contemporary British naming conventions that often honoured aristocratic titles rather than individuals.
The use of the name Pembroke to describe the local area is documented by at least 1838, when legislation passed by the Legislature of the Province of Upper Canada establishing the County of Renfrew listed the Township of Pembroke among the affected townships assigned to the newly created District of Bathurst.
Campbelltown became Lowertown, while Miramichi was renamed first to Moffatville, then to Sydenham. In 1856, the two settlements—Lowertown and Sydenham—were unified and unincorporated as the police Village of Pembroke.
Early History The first European settler to the area now known as Pembroke was Daniel Fraser in 1823, who squatted on land that was discovered to have been granted to a man named Abel Ward. Ward later sold the land (on land near the present-day commercial core) to Fraser, and nearby Fraser Street is named after the family.
Peter White, a veteran of the Royal Navy arrived in 1828, squatting beside Fraser on the land where the lower parking lot is located, beneath the Metro grocery store. Other settlers followed, attracted by the growing lumbering operations of the area.
Originally named Miramichi, The hamlet was later renamed Moffat, and then Sydenham. In 1856, it merged with the hamlet of Campbelltown, across the Muskrat River, to form the Police Village of Pembroke. Pembroke became a police village in 1856.
Pembroke was incorporated as a town in 1878 and as a city in 1971. It was named seat for Renfrew County in 1861. This set the stage for construction shortly thereafter on the Renfrew County Courthouse, which was finished in 1867, and the arrival of many civil servants, much wealth and much construction. Between the 1860s and the early 20th century, Pembroke experienced significant institutional and architectural development following its designation as the county seat. A fire in 1918 destroyed much of Pembroke's downtown.
The Renfrew County Courthouse, completed in 1867, later underwent restoration and adaptive reuse between 2005 and 2007. The building includes preserved courtroom spaces and former jail cells. Historical records indicate that three executions occurred at the courthouse gallows between the 1870s and 1952.
Other historic buildings that survived the fire in Pembroke include a historic synagogue, two original hospitals, the Dunlop Mansion (which served as the Grey Gables Inn until its permanent closure), the 'Munroe Block' downtown, and two houses belonging to the White family. A fire in 1918 downtown destroyed many buildings, including the Pembroke Opera House.Pembroke's great fire of 1918: 'A sorry sight' | Editorial | Opinion | Pembroke Daily Observer . Thedailyobserver.ca. Retrieved on 2013-07-12.
In 1898 Pembroke became the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pembroke.
Forest Fire Prevention
The Pembroke Forest Fire District was founded by Ontario's former Department of Lands and Forests (now the MNR) in 1922 as one of 17 districts to help protect Ontario's forests from fire by early detection from fire towers. The headquarters for the district were housed in the town. It was the central location for 15 fire tower lookouts, including the towers in Algonquin Park. The 15 towers included: Wilberforce, Mt. Edna, Sherwood, Murchison, Preston, Clancy, Fitzgerald, Brent, Big Crow Lake, White Trout Lake, Stonecliffe, Deux Rivières, Osler, Lauder and Skymount. When a fire was spotted in the forest a towerman would get the degree bearings from his respective tower and radio back the information to headquarters. When one or more towermen from other towers in the area would also call in their bearings, the forest rangers at headquarters could get a 'triangulation' read and plot the exact location of the fire on their map. This way a team of forest firefighters could be dispatched as soon as possible to get the fire under control. These towers would all be phased out after aerial fire fighting techniques were employed in the 1970s.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Pembroke had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Economy
Pembroke functions as a regional commercial and service centre for the Upper Ottawa Valley, situated approximately midway between Ottawa and North Bay.
Historically, forestry and farming formed the backbone of the local economy and remain important today. Local timber products include lumber, plywood, veneer, hydro poles and fibreboard. Other local manufacturing operations produce office furniture.
CFB Petawawa in nearby Petawawa and Chalk River Laboratories of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories in Chalk River are also regional employers. Chalk River Laboratories is being restructured to a GOCO (Government Owned, Contractor Operated) Laboratory.
The economy also benefits from tourism, aided partly by Pembroke's location on the Trans-Canada Highway. Pembroke is a gateway to natural adventures on the Petawawa and Ottawa Rivers, Algonquin Park and to world-class white water rafting a short distance to the southwest.
Government and public administration
Municipal
Municipal Government The Corporation of the City of Pembroke is the legal entity representing the municipal government of Pembroke, Ontario. Like all municipal corporations in Ontario, it is established under provincial legislation and is responsible for delivering local services, enforcing bylaws, and managing public assets within its jurisdiction. The purpose of a municipal corporation is to provide governance and administration at the local level, including services such as infrastructure maintenance, land use planning, public safety, recreation, and community development.
Neighbourhoods According to Schedule "B" of the City of Pembroke’s Official Plan, the city is divided into several neighbourhoods:
East End West End Centre Core Downtown Industrial Park
Municipal Government Structure Pembroke operates under a strong-mayor-council system, currently in a government form, with one mayor and six councillors elected at large. As of 2022, the mayor of Pembroke is Ron Gervais.
The Corporation of the City of Pembroke day-to-day operations are supervised by the Chief Administration Officer, and department leads (i.e. Director of Operations, Fire Chief, etc.).
Elections
Voters elect a mayor and six councillors using a first-past-the-post system, where candidates receiving the highest number of votes secure the positions; the deputy mayor is designated from among the elected councillors. The City of Pembroke's municipal elections are conducted under the authority of Ontario's Municipal Elections Act, 1996, with council members elected every four years on the fourth Monday of October. The most recent election occurred on October 24, 2022, with the next scheduled for October 26, 2026.
2022 election results 2022 Ontario municipal elections, City of Pembroke CandidateNumber of VotesOfficeRon Gervais (X)AcclaimedMayorBrian Abdallah (X)2,238Deputy MayorIan Kuehl (X)1,935CouncillorAndrew Plummer (X)1,855CouncillorPatricia (Pat) Lafreniere (X)1,800CouncillorEd Jaycno (X)1,433CouncillorTroy Purcell (X)1,146CouncillorStacey Taylor1,089Dan Callaghan1,073Dorian Pearce1,006Jane Wood882Chéla Breckon808Karen Walsh658Jason Laronde480Andrew (Andy) Clark457Wade Wallace338 Out of 10,375 eligible electors, 3,633 voted (35.02%).
Mayors +1877–currentNo.PortraitNameTook officeLeft officeNotes45Ronald (Ron) H. Gervais2022current44Michael Lemay2014202243Ed Jacyno2003201442Bob Pilot2000200341Les Scott1994200040Terance V. McCann1988199436 (3 of 3)Angus A. Campbell1981198839Henry V. Brown1975198038George Abdallah1973197436 (2 of 3)Angus A. Campbell19711972Town of Pembroke is redesignated as a city.37William K. Kutschke1966197036 (1 of 3)Angus A. Campbell1960196535A.A. Wallace1958195934J.J. Carmody1950195733Chas. E. Campbell1948194932Wallace J. Fraser1942194731F.W. Beatty1939194130A.E. Cockburn1936193829Matthew McKay1935193528John Courtland Bradley1934193427George D. Biggs1931193326J.M. Taylor1928193025J.P. Duff1926192724L.S. Barrand1924192523W.I. Smyth1922192322D.A. Jones1920192121W.R. Beatty1918191920Edward Behan1916191719James L. Morris1914191518William Leacy1912191317W.L. Hunter1910191116J.S. Fraser1907190915Isidore Martin1907190714William H. Bromley1905190613George Delahaye1903190412Peter White1901190111John P. Millar1901190110Thomas Murray189719009F.E. Fortin189118968William R. White189118937Thomas Deacon189018906William Murray188818905Archibald Foster188518874Walter Beatty188318843John H. Metcalfe188218822W.W. Dickson187918811William Moffat18771878Planned the original village of Pembroke. First postmaster of Pembroke.
Attractions
Local attractions include 30 historic murals in the downtown area depicting the history of the city, from steam engines to logging.
At the Upper Ottawa Valley Heritage Centre (previously Champlain Trail Museum and Pioneer Village), the history of Ottawa Valley settlers comes alive inside the fully furnished schoolhouse, pioneer log home and church, all built in the 1800s. Other outdoor exhibits include a train station, sawmill, blacksmith shop, stonelifter, carriage shed, woodworking shop, bake oven, smokehouse and 1923 Bickle fire engine. The large museum features artifacts which range from fossils and indigenous arrowheads to furniture, clothing and manufactured products of Pembroke from various eras. There is also a replica of Samuel de Champlain's Astrolabe (he brought the original to the Valley in 1613), an original Cockburn pointer boat, Corliss steam engine, doctor's examination room, fancy parlour rooms, general store, hair salon and more.
The Pembroke Hydro Museum commemorates national hydro-electric development in Pembroke, including the first electric streetlights in Pembroke, and the first municipal building with electric lights (Victoria Hall).
The city is home to an annual Old Time Fiddling and Step Dancing Festival, which happens Labour Day weekend at Riverside Park. There are often up to 1,400 RVs parked there for the week preceding the event. Award-winning fiddler/step dancer April Verch is a Pembroke native.
Pembroke has a 600 plus seat community arts facility, Festival Hall Centre of the Arts. The facility is operated by a Consortium consisting of The City of Pembroke and the Townships of Petawawa and Laurentian Valley. This facility hosts various local productions and top Canadian artists during the year.
Pembroke also is host to the annual Silver Stick Regional Minor League Hockey Tournament, which brings in several hundred children and youth on weekends in November and early December for regional qualifying games.
Pembroke's Public Library was designed by architect Francis Conroy Sullivan, a contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Sports